The Queensland government has taken aim at companies that hire out campervans emblazoned with offensive slogans, which are often seen around Byron Bay and Ballina.
The move follows a string of complaints against Brisbane-based company Wicked Campers, which hires out vans with graffiti-style paintwork, often emblazoned with racist, sexist and homophobic ‘jokes’.
Both Byron and Ballina councils passed motions condemning the company earlier this year,
But despite repeated calls for action, including a unanimous vote in the Senate, the company has flouted rulings by the Advertising Standards Bureau for offensive signage to be removed.
Earlier this year, Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called on the community to boycott the vans.
But with the controversy continuing to bubble, the Queensland government is now threatening to cancel the regos of vehicles found to be flouting the new law.
The changes introduced to state parliament this week are aimed at ending what roads minister Mark Bailey has called ‘demeaning and very public attacks on women’.
Hire companies that are directed by the Advertising Standards Board to remove a sexist, obscene or offensive slogan from one of their vehicles will have two weeks to comply, or its registration will be cancelled, the minister said.
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